


A Promise Kept (Even If It's Not So Good)

by afluffykiwi



Series: wally centric request things [3]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Fluffy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Multi, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Starvation, Vomiting, Wally Whump, Whump, it's in all lowercase if that bothers you, self harm in the form of starving himself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-25 20:40:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4975747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afluffykiwi/pseuds/afluffykiwi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His metabolism messes up a lot of aspects of his life, but that's just it. It's his own. When it threatens the lives of his friends, that's when something needs to change.<br/>How much does he actually need to eat, anyways?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the build up

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from 'Everyone Loves Wally West': So... if you could write one with Wally not eating for some reason (like Artemis is a bitch about the way he eats and he gets even more self-conscious than he already was (BC HIS FATHER WAS A DICK)) and collapses and Roy or Dick (or both, gladly) storms in after hearing that Wally is hurt (Roy finds out later because he's not on the team, Robin because he can maybe have been doing a shitton with Bats recently so hasn't really done a lot with the team and then hears later) Dick is like 'what the fuck we're supposed to be a team, we're supposed to care for eachother and not be assholes and notice when shit like this happens' (you can also change this slightly to fit with Roy instead if that's what you're more into) and gives Artemis a load of shit and the team find out about Wally's dad and Wally!angst and protective!Roy & protective!Dick (and Barry bc daddy flash is way scarier than daddy bats) ensues and-! Yeah, that would be great. So either Roy/WALLY or Dick/Wally please, just as long as Walky is the bottom.

wally felt his heart sink, guilt and self-loathing swirling about his mind, clouding his thoughts. he was barely aware of artemis’ lecture, picking out only the important parts. the, ‘it’s all your fault’s and the ‘if you weren’t eating all the time this wouldn’t have happened’ and the ‘if we died it’d be your fault.’ and robin jumped in there, coming to his defense like the bro he was, but wally didn’t deserve it and it made his mouth sour.

wally woke up clawing at his sheets, eyes wide and mouth clamped shut with terror. the nightmares made it too hard to sleep and not at all worth it, actually. memories of his father, a sore spot that artemis had hit with all of her might. so he stayed up at all hours, trying not to snack the time away. the panic burned calories like no one’s business and it made this so much harder. but he was strong, stronger than he let anyone know, even himself sometimes.

wally felt his stomach twist, pain flaring, and his hands immediately curled into fists, his nails biting into his palms, and the sharp pain strengthened his resolve. he knew he could make the pain go away, but that was taking the easy way out. that would be breaking a promise, and even though it was just one to himself, it’s success affected the people around him. so he wouldn’t not break. he would not eat. he plastered a smile on his face and stepped into the training room, feeling some dread like sludge in his veins.

wally’s fingers clenched tight around the rim of the toilet bowl, his dry heaves loud in the empty house. this throat burned and his head hurt, his stomach hurt too, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. the emptiness of his stomach is what led to this, but eating something now would just make him puke more. and that wasn’t something he wanted to do. he spat bile, there was nothing else to puke up, and flushed the toilet, sitting a moment as he let the wave of vertigo pass. when he stood he was pale and shaky, and when he finally collapsed on his bed to pass out, he knew he couldn’t keep this up for much longer.

  
wally went down on a mission as his team watched, horrified.  one moment a blur and a scatter of lightning, the next a heap hitting the ground with a loud and painful thud. and that was it for the mission, their priority now saving their teammate and finding out what went wrong.


	2. the cool down

robin was more than pissed, and he was sure that when roy finally got his ass in gear and showed up too, he’d be pissed too. wallace fucking west, human garbage disposal, the kid who had to consume tens of thousands of calories a day so he didn’t starve to death, had done just that. he’d starved himself, and he could be dead and the league wasn’t telling them shit and robin just wanted to scream. but he swallowed it down and turned to the team so they could figure out why their speedster had done this.

roy was in the shower when he got the call. and he almost ignored it. but he was thankful he didn’t underneath all his panic and anger. wally was hospitalized, almost dead, and he almost didn’t know about it. as it was, he was hardly dressed, a pair of sweats, a shirt, and a mask just thrown on, but that didn’t even matter, because he stormed into the cave like he belonged there and immediately started yelling.

artemis felt more than guilty. but that didn’t stop her from snapping right back at the bird and the other archer when they confronted her. because it couldn’t have just been her that pushed him to this. because bickering is what they do and they’ve both said nasty things to each and it has never ever led to this. so maybe instead of lecturing they should find out how wally actually was.

wally woke feeling like a complete idiot. an idiot who was in a ridiculous amount of pain, but an idiot none the less. he felt better in a sense. like his body actually had the nutrients to function, which explained the IV in his arm. he knew he was going to get the lecture of a lifetime, but for now he’d just revel in the fact that he wasn’t dead, and he didn’t actually break his promise.

wally had shrunk in on himself as much as he could, wincing a little as his partners yelled at him. they were scared, he got that, and felt so awful about it, but his head hurt and this wasn’t helping at all. and maybe they saw that in his face because they quieted.

“wally, why did you do this?” dick sounded so hurt, it made his heart clench.

they deserved an answer but all they got was a shrug.

“you could’ve died,” the boy pressed, moving closer. “and all you’re going to do i shrug? like it’s nothing?”

“i don’t know what you want to hear.”

“the truth?” roy scoffed. “don’t try and sugarcoat it, just tell us why you’d hurt yourself like that.”

he swallowed, squirming a little. “well, why shouldn’t i?” that’s not what he meant to say, and that’s definitely not what they were expecting to hear.

“why shouldn’t- wally, are you serious?” roy gaped, and robin immediately climbed onto the bed, settling down beside the speedster and pulling him into a hug. roy followed soon after, and wally was sure they meant to comfort him, but he didn’t deserve this comfort, and it made his heart ache.

“maybe because you don’t deserve to be hurt?” robin said a moment later, peeling off his mask so he could meet wally’s eyes dead-on.

“but i do!” he protested, biting his lip. roy’s arms tightened a little and he huffed out a breath. “i don’t know how you can’t see that, but i really do. i’m… i’m the worst, i’m garbage and a nuisance and i’m too loud and i eat too much too fast too gross, and i tried to stop. after that fucking mission, you know the one, rob. but i wasn’t strong enough. and i don’t… i don’t want to try again but i know i should-”

“no, no you really shouldn’t.” roy swallowed, kissing the top of his head and rubbing his arm.

“wally that mission wasn’t just your fault. we all made mistakes, okay? no one died, no one got lasting injuries because of it.” robin sucked in a breath. “and you’re not the worst, okay? you’re one of the funniest, sweetest guys i know! what you deserve is happiness and comfort and love, alright? i know we haven’t been a thing for very long but i love you, i always have and i always will.”

robin offered him a weak smile and that just broke him, tears filling his green eyes and spilling down his cheeks. he hiccupped, trying to wipe them away, but they just kept coming and robin took his hands to stop him. roy mumbled out another ‘i love you’ and it startled a trembling laugh out of him. he bit back a smile, dipping his head.

“i’m… i mean, i love you guys too, of course, i just… didn’t expect…?”

“well now you can.” robin chirped.

“you know who else loves you?” roy asked, glancing at the door.

“who?”

“your insanely worried uncle.” barry piped up, stepping all the way into the room before he zipped over to join in on the group hug. “and your insanely worried aunt.”

wally laughed, nuzzling barry’s shoulder. “ah, right. um, are you going to…?”

“i think you’ve had enough lectures for one day. besides, i think iris’ll lecture you enough for the both of us.”

“oh.” the boy grimaced, his nose wrinkling.

“it’s because she loves you, like i said before. your team loves you too, and jay, and joan, and hal, and-”

“i get it, i get it!” wally whined, his nose wrinkling even more.

“and you get that you can always come to us when you need a reminder, right?” barry said, sobering up.

“at any time, okay?” rob added, and roy grunted his affirmation.

“yeah, i get it.” wally grinned. “thank you.”

“of course, we love you after all~”

“oh my gosh-”

****  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i planned on another part but i think im just going to end it with this haha


End file.
